Our Lady of the Pillar Parish

It was a year I will never forget! 1988 would see my family move back to the States after spending eight of the most rewarding years of our lives in the mission field of Thailand. Our departure was more sudden than we had anticipated, as there were problems in our home congregation and the money just was not there. Paula and I prayed for wisdom, and the answer came loud and clear. Yet, we had made so many friends; and it was difficult to pack up eight years into shipping crates and footlockers, get on a train which would take us to an airplane, and just leave!

But we did!

However, before we left, we spent several weeks traveling all over the country saying good bye to those we loved so much. It was a difficult assignment, but God provided the grace we all needed.

I remember one particular good bye that will stay with me forever, or I hope it does. His name was Paw Phim. Paw in the Thai language is a term of respect and endearment for older men. It is equivalent to our "Father."

Paw Phim had become like a second father to me, for it was in his village that I preached my first sermon in Thai. On that particular day, I knew no one understood, but Paw Phim took my hand after the sermon and told me it was one of the finest sermons he had ever heard.

Years later I would ask Paw Phim if he really understood what I said, and he told me, "Of course not, but what your face and heart said on that day spoke much louder than what came out of your mouth. I knew then that you loved the Thai people, and it was then I became to love you like a son."

WOW! Aren't I a lucky man?

Paw Phim was the last stop on my circuit of "good byes." It was the most difficult. I didn't usually bring food when I went to visit him because it offended him. But I was tired of seeing him get up at 4:00 in the morning and walk over a mile on those swollen, beaten up knees, to go to a small pond to seine a few little fish for me to have in my soup and rice for breakfast. I was tired of seeing his family do without so I could have a little meat with my rice and vegetables at the evening meal. For my last visit, I brought two chickens and a bag full of vegetables and fruit. He didn't like it one bit and accepted it begrudgingly.

However, I was not to outdo Paw Phim! At our last meal, we had roasted beef along with a host of other delicacies. It was unbelievable! We never had beef -- there just wasn't any to be had -- water buffalo, yes, but not real beef from a cow! Yet there it was.

I asked him where he got it and he told me not to worry about it. I was to eat it and enjoy it for this was the least he could do for me before we had to say our good byes. I kept digging, because I wanted to know what he had just done for me. It was then that my heart began to break, for I found out that Paw Phim had slaughtered his only cow, which gave milk to his grand-kids, so I could have beef at our last meal.

I gently rebuked him and offered to give him money to buy another cow. It was then that these words poured out of his weather-beaten face, "Joe, I didn't give my cow to you, I gave it to God. Do you think I would do that for you?"

Again, WOW! How does God make people like this? I don't know, but everyone should have a Paw Phim in his or her life!

This story came to its powerful conclusion three years later. I went back to visit my second home in Thailand. Of course I went to see Paw Phim. His health was bad, but his mind and heart were the same. He asked me if I remembered that cow he had slaughtered, and I said that I had. He then took my hand and led me to the back of his house. Standing there were three beautiful cows!

I asked Paw Phim where he got them, and his answer? "Where do you think I got them, Joe? God delivered them to me three weeks after you left!" No, I didn't buy those cows, but someone did! How God provided those three cows I'll never know, but I don't need to know!

The point of this story is not about the cows, but about the faith and trust of a Thai Christian named Paw Phim who lives on the other side of the world, yet still teaches us that faith and trust will always win the day! Thank you Paw Phim! I'll see you soon.

 

~ By: Joe Bagby ~

 

Now I want to tell you, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done for the churches in Macedonia. Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing ... (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).

[ By: Joe Bagby (bagman1947@ yahoo.com) , © 2005 -- submitted by: Hart Dowd (hartdowd@shaw. ca) ]

 

Jim Castle was tired when he boarded his plane in Cincinnati , Ohio , that
night in 1981. The 45-year-old management consultant had put on a week
long series of business meetings and seminars, and now he sank gratefully into
his seat ready for the flight home to Kansas City , Kansas .

As more passengers entered, the place hummed with conversation, mixed with
the sound of bags being stowed. Then, suddenly, people fell silent. The
quiet moved slowly up the aisle like an invisible wake behind a boat. Jim
craned his head to see what was happening, and his mouth dropped open.

Walking up the aisle were two nuns clad in simple white habits bordered in
blue. He recognized the familiar face of one at once, the wrinkled skin,
and the eyes warmly intent. This was a face he'd seen in newscasts and on
the cover of TIME. The two nuns halted, and Jim realized that his seat
companion was going to be Mother Teresa!

As the last few passengers settled in, Mother Teresa and her companion
pulled out rosaries. Each decade of the beads was a different color, Jim
noticed.. The decades represented various areas of the world, Mother Teresa
told him later, and added, 'I pray for the poor and dying on each continent'

The airplane taxied to the runway and the two women began to pray, their
voices a low murmur. Though Jim considered himself not a very religious
Catholic who went to church mostly out of habit, inexplicably he found
himself joining in.

By the time they murmured the final prayer, the plane had reached cruising
altitude. Mother Teresa turned toward him. For the first time in his life,
Jim understood what people meant when they spoke of a person possessing an
'aura'. As she gazed at him, a sense of peace filled him; he could no more
see it than he could see the wind but he felt it, just as surely as he
felt a warm summer breeze.

'Young man,' she inquired, 'do you say the rosary often?' 'No, not
really,' he admitted.

She took his hand, while her eyes probed his. Then she smiled. 'Well, you
will now.' And she dropped her rosary into his palm.

An hour later Jim entered the Kansas City airport where he was met by his
wife, Ruth. 'What in the world?' Ruth asked when she noticed the rosary in
his hand. They kissed and Jim described his encounter.

Driving home, he said. 'I feel as if I met a true sister of God.'

Nine months later Jim and Ruth visited Connie, a friend of theirs for
several years. Connie confessed that she'd been told she had ovarian
cancer.
'The doctor says it's a tough case,' said Connie, 'but I'm going to fight
it. I won't give up.' Jim clasped her hand. Then, after reaching into his
pocket, he gently twined Mother Teresa's rosary around her fingers. He
told her the story and said, 'Keep it with you Connie. It may help.'

Although Connie wasn't Catholic, her hand closed willingly around the
small plastic beads. 'Thank you,' she whispered. 'I hope I can return it.'

More than a year passed before Jim saw Connie again. This time her face
was glowing, she hurried toward him and handed him the rosary.

'I carried it with me all year,' she said. 'I've had surgery and have been
on chemotherapy, too. Last month, the doctors did second-look surgery, and
the tumor's gone.. Completely!' Her eyes met Jim's. 'I knew it was time to
give the rosary back.'

In the fall of 1987, Ruth's sister, Liz, fell into a deep depression after
her divorce. She asked Jim if she could borrow the rosary, and when he
sent it, she hung it over her bedpost in a small velvet bag. At night I held on
to it, just physically held on. I was so lonely and afraid,' she says,
'yet when I gripped that rosary, I felt as if I held a loving hand.'

Gradually, Liz pulled her life together, and she mailed the rosary back.
'Someone else may need it,' she said.

Then one night in 1988, a stranger telephoned Ruth. She'd heard about the
rosary from a neighbor and asked if she could borrow it to take to the
hospital where her mother lay in a coma. The family hoped the rosary might
help their mother die peacefully. A few days later, the woman returned the
beads. 'The nurses told me a coma patient can still hear,' she said, 'so I
explained to my mother that I had Mother Teresa's rosary and that when I
gave it to her she could let go; it would be all rosary in her hand. Right
away, we saw her face relax. The lines smoothed out until she looked so
peaceful, so young.' The woman's voice caught. 'A few minutes later she
was gone.'

Fervently, she gripped Ruth's hands. 'Thank you.'

Is there special power in those humble beads? Or is the power of the human
spirit simply renewed in each person who borrows the rosary? Jim only
knows that requests continue to come, often unexpectedly. He always responds
though, whenever he lends the rosary, 'When you're through needing it,
send it back. Someone else may need it.'

Jim's own life has changed, too, since his unexpected meeting on the
airplane. When he realized Mother Teresa carries everything she owns in a
small bag, he made an effort to simplify his own life.

'I try to remember what really counts - not money or titles or
possessions, but the way we love others,' he says.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ABUNDANTLY, MAY MOTHER MARY ASK HER SON
JESUS TO SHOWER YOU WITH GRACES.

Please feel free to pass this mail on, especially to all those in despair
so that they might know that they are not alone in their hour of need.

The reason I sent you this mail is because I know the power of the prayers
of these simple beads and I wanted to share it with you.

Every sacrifice has a fruitful reward. Every failure has a second chance.

We only have to be strong thru God's grace and persevere in life's many
tests! May GOD bless you always.

 

St. Augustine says, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

We are all called to seek the Lord. Ignatius of Loyola taught that the principle and foundation of our lives is God's love. We are to love, honor and serve the Lord, and then be with Him forever in heaven. Israel suffered from the cruelties of war. The people are devastated at their loss. The great army of Assyria has brought desolation to the people of Israel.

On behalf of the people, Isaiah turns to God acknowledging their disobedience and waywardness. If only they turned to God. Israel was chosen by God to be the light; they were blessed with the covenant of God's protection and presence. Now hope seems lost. Is there any way that God will receive this abandoned and rebellious people?

Isaiah teaches that it is in the name and title of God alone that give life to our souls. God's name has been uttered through the grace of the Spirit. Hope will be restored. God will give back to them what they have lost. They are to sing, awaken and return to the Lord, those who lie in the dust. They will know God as their shield and strength.

Our souls yearn for God like a deer looking for water. The psalmist writes that the sheep finds rest by the cool, still waters. We, the sheep of God, are to find refreshment, renewal and restoration in God alone.

The tragedies of life will often leave a void in our lives. We look for peace, acceptance, and identity. This can be lost through the traumas that we encounter. Apart from God, we look to other things to fill the void, the restlessness. Drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, and other substances replace the longing for love and consolation. These form into habits or addictions - our hearts become restless until they rest in God. We look for a relationship that will meet our needs. We escape the pain in many ways.

However, God alone suffices. He alone is the answer to our deep longings and desires.Fr. Brian Steele  

Reflection Question: What is the burden that lays upon our heart? Are there times when we are troubled in spirit? Do we give into doubt and uncertainty?  

Lord God I come to You. My heart finds its rest in You. Pour Your spirit into my life. Renew my love. Amen.  

St. Alexis, pray for us.  

The time we spend in having our daily audience with God
is the most precious part of the whole day.

Today is the beautiful Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
May our hearts be open to receive all the Love God has for us.


Well, blessings of Peace and Joy.....and beautiful and warm blessings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Sister Patricia and all the Sisters